MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) With a Championship 4 spot on the line Sunday, William Byron put the bumper to Ryan Blaney to win at Martinsville Speedway in the third-round finale of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Byron made his winning move with 43 laps remaining, seizing the bottom lane in Turn 1 and moving Blaney up the track by tagging him in the left rear.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver led the rest of the way and fended off Blaney on a restart with 11 laps remaining. Starting from the pole position, Byron led a race-high 304 of 500 laps for his third victory this season in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

Both drivers were in must-win situations to advance to the championship round.

Blaney, who was trying to win his third consecutive playoff race at Martinsville, came up one spot short despite qualifying 31st and leading 177 laps on the 0.526-mile oval.

Kyle Larson, Byrons Hendrick Motorsports teammate, captured the final championship-eligible berth in the season finale with a fourth-place finish that put him seven points ahead of Christopher Bell, who was seventh.

Byron and Larson advanced to face Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe in the title round Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway, where the championship will be awarded to the driver with the best finish of the four drivers who are split evenly between Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick.

Along with Bell and Blaney, third-place finisher Chase Elliott and defending series champion Joey Logano (eighth) also were eliminated from the playoffs.

With Blaney and Logano locked out of the Phoenix title race, Team Penskes streak of three consecutive Cup championships was snapped.

Mechanical woes

The two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers who already were locked into Championship 4 both suffered engine failures.

Hamlin, who opened the third round with a Las Vegas Motor Speedway victory to advance to the title race, was running second on the 334th lap when he pulled his sputtering No. 11 Toyota into the garage. Martinsville marked the third race during the playoffs with a mechanical problem for Hamlin, who also needed a push from team members Saturday when his car failed to start in qualifying.

I felt like the car was coming to us and was just starting to close in on Blaney, said Hamlin, who finished 35th after winning at Martinsville in March. I didnt feel anything. The engine was running and then not. Well work on it. Im obviously concerned, but obviously nothing I can do about it. So were going to have to live with it and hopefully we get lucky next week. Im confident on speed well be good next week. Well bring our best and hopefully it lasts.

Briscoe finished last when his No. 19 Toyota lost power after 295 laps, but the JGR driver already had locked into the Championship 4 with his Oct. 19 victory at Talladega Superspeedway .

Went to upshift and something happened, said Briscoe, who was running 12th before the failure. Not really sure but next week is what its all about anyway.

Courtside update

Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, said the teams antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR wont be a distraction to pursuing his first Cup championship.

Hamlin spent Tuesday through Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, courtrooms for mediation sessions and a summary judgment hearing , and he worked nightly at Joe Gibbs Racing until as late as 10 p.m.

Im tired, but I didnt stop working, Hamlin said Saturday. I go from court to the shop. We dont stop. Im prepared.

Hamlin said the settlement talks went OK the first day, not great the second day and seems resigned to a trial that is scheduled to begin Dec. 1. I think both sides probably feel strong about their case, he said. You heard the arguments. Ill let you form your own opinion, but I think one of us is on a suicide mission.

Up next

The Championship 4 season finale of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will be held Sunday, Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway. Joey Logano won at the mile oval in Avondale, Arizona, last November to claim his third Cup championship . Christopher Bell won the March 9 race at Phoenix with a last-lap pass of teammate Denny Hamlin .

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AP auto racing:

美联社弗吉尼亚州马丁斯维尔电——在周日举行的纳斯卡杯系列赛季后赛第三轮决赛中，威廉·拜伦（William Byron）在马丁斯维尔赛道与瑞安·布莱尼（Ryan Blaney）展开激烈争夺，最终凭借车身接触赢得比赛，成功锁定冠军四强席位。

在比赛还剩43圈时，拜伦（Byron）在1号弯抢占内线，通过轻触布莱尼（Blaney）的左后侧迫使其偏离赛道，完成了制胜一击。

亨德里克赛车手在最后阶段保持领先，并在剩余11圈时的重新发车中成功抵挡住布莱尼的进攻。从杆位发车的拜伦驾驶24号雪佛兰赛车，全程领跑500圈中的304圈，斩获个人本赛季第三场胜利。

两位车手都面临着必须获胜才能晋级冠军争夺战的局面。

布莱尼（Blaney）在马丁斯维尔赛道力争季后赛三连冠，尽管排位赛仅列第31名，但他在这个0.526英里的椭圆形赛道上领跑了177圈，最终以一名之差与冠军失之交臂。

凯尔·拉森（Kyle Larson）作为拜伦（Byron）的亨德里克赛车运动（Hendrick Motorsports）队友，在赛季收官战中以第四名的成绩锁定最后一个冠军争夺席位，领先排名第七的克里斯托弗·贝尔（Christopher Bell）7个积分。

拜伦（Byron）与拉尔森（Larson）成功晋级，将于11月2日在凤凰城赛道与丹尼·哈姆林（Denny Hamlin）、蔡斯·布里斯科（Chase Briscoe）展开冠军争夺战。该赛事中，四位车手分别来自乔·吉布斯车队（Joe Gibbs Racing）与亨德里克车队（Hendrick），冠军将授予其中最终名次最优者。

与贝尔（Bell）和布莱尼（Blaney）一同出局的，还有获得第三名的蔡斯·埃利奥特（Chase Elliott）以及卫冕系列赛冠军乔伊·洛加诺（Joey Logano，第八名），他们均止步季后赛。

随着布莱尼（Blaney）和洛加诺（Logano）无缘凤凰城冠军争夺赛，潘世奇车队（Team Penske）连续三届杯赛夺冠的纪录就此终结。

机械故障困扰

乔·吉布斯车队（Joe Gibbs Racing）两名已锁定冠军赛四强席位的车手，均遭遇引擎故障。

哈姆林（Hamlin）在拉斯维加斯赛车场赢得第三轮比赛后晋级冠军争夺战，但在第334圈时，他驾驶的11号丰田赛车突然熄火，被迫退赛进入维修区。此次马丁斯维尔站是他季后赛期间第三次遭遇机械故障——上周六排位赛中，他的赛车甚至无法启动，需由队友助推才能发动。

“我感觉那辆车正朝我们驶来，并开始逼近布莱尼，”三月份曾在马丁斯维尔夺冠、但本站仅获第35名的哈姆林说道，“当时我毫无察觉。引擎突然就停止了运转。我们会排查问题。虽然我很担忧，但显然无能为力。只能接受现实，期待下周能有好运。我对车速有信心，相信下周会好转。我们将全力以赴，希望赛车能坚持到底。”

布里斯科驾驶的19号丰田赛车在完成295圈后失去动力，最终排名垫底。但这位乔·吉布斯车队的车手早已凭借10月19日在塔拉迪加超级赛道取得的胜利，锁定了锦标赛四强席位。

“正准备升挡时突然出了问题，”布里斯科说道，他在故障发生前排名第12位。“具体原因还不清楚，但下周的比赛才是真正的重点。”

赛场边最新动态

与迈克尔·乔丹（Michael Jordan）共同拥有23XI Racing车队的哈姆林（Hamlin）表示，该车队针对纳斯卡（NASCAR）提起的反垄断诉讼不会影响他争夺首个杯赛冠军的目标。

汉姆林从周二到周四都在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的法庭参加调解会议和简易判决听证会，每晚他还会在乔·吉布斯车队工作到晚上10点。

“我很累，但我没有停止工作，”哈姆林周六表示，“我从法庭直奔店铺。我们不会停歇，我已做好准备。”

哈姆林表示，和解谈判首日进展尚可，次日却不尽如人意。他似乎已对定于12月1日开庭的审判听天由命。"我认为双方可能都对己方案情信心十足，"他说，"各位已听过双方陈词。我无意左右各位的判断，但在我看来，其中一方简直是在自取灭亡。"

接下来

NASCAR杯系列季后赛的冠军四强赛季终战将于11月2日（周日）在凤凰城赛道举行。去年11月，乔伊·洛加诺在亚利桑那州阿文代尔的一英里椭圆形赛道上获胜，赢得了他的第三个杯赛冠军。克里斯托弗·贝尔在3月9日的凤凰城比赛中，通过最后一圈超越队友丹尼·哈姆林而夺冠。

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